Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
ACA Enrollment Hits Record High Of 16.3 Million Insured
The Hill: A Record Of Over 16 Million People Signed Up For Insurance Through Obamacare
More than 16.3 million people enrolled in a health plan through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) during the most recent open enrollment period, marking the highest number of enrollees since the program was signed into law 10 years ago. This record amount of enrollments occurred between Nov. 1 and Jan. 15 and represented nearly 2 million more people than the number that enrolled the previous year. According to the White House, 3.6 million people, or 22 percent of those who signed up in this enrollment period, were new to the Marketplace. (Choi, 1/25)
CNN: ACA Sign-Ups Soar To Record 16.3 Million For 2023
Sign-ups on the federal exchange, healthcare.gov, have skyrocketed nearly 50% since the Biden administration took office in 2021, thanks in large part to enhanced federal premium subsidies and increased outreach efforts. Plan selections are up 13% from this time last year. ... The spike in coverage helped drive the nation’s uninsured rate to an all-time low of 8% in the first quarter of 2022. (Luhby, 1/25)
The New York Times: Obamacare Sign-Ups Top 16 Million For 2023, Setting Another Record
President Biden cheered the development in a statement, saying, “Today, we received further proof that our efforts are delivering record-breaking results.” The Biden administration has taken other steps to encourage enrollment in the plans, including increasing advertising and enrollment assistance and providing a longer window for sign-ups than during President Donald J. Trump’s administration. But it appears the money is mattering more than anything else. (Sanger-Katz, 1/25)
AP: Record 16.3 Million Seek Health Coverage Through 'Obamacare'
The government worked with nonprofit groups and invested in program specialists who helped to sign people up in low-income, immigrant, Black and Latino communities to enroll more people, said Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “We made unprecedented investments to expand our enrollment organization footprint into nearly every county in the country and targeted the hardest to reach communities,” she said. (Seitz, 1/25)
Florida had the most sign-ups —
Miami Herald: Florida Sees Record Obamacare Enrollment, Leads The Country
Florida led the way with the highest number of people in the country who signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, with more than 3.2 million people enrolling, or 20 percent of the country’s totals. ... In Florida, enrollment ballooned to 3.2 million, a 19% jump over last year’s open enrollment period under the health law, commonly known as Obamacare. The 3.2 million represents 20 percent of all enrollees nationwide, even though Florida, the third most populous state in the country with 22 million people, accounts for only about 7 percent of the U.S. population. (Marchante, 1/26)
